| Rwanda’s Kagame hits back at critics | Send to a friend |
| Monday, 06 September 2010 22:55 |
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At least 10 African heads of state and tens of thousands of Rwandans gathered today for the swearing in of Paul Kagame, who won a landslide victory in last month's presidential elections. Kigali's Amahoro stadium was packed to capacity, with an estimated 40,000 people inside and thousands of others set to follow the event on giant screens outside the stadium. Among the attending dignitaries is President Joseph Kabila whose Democratic Republic of Congo is the focus of a leaked UN report alleging that the Rwandan army committed widespread atrocities, possibly amounting to genocide, there between 1996-98. Kigali rejected the charges and threatened to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from Sudan if the UN goes ahead and publishes the report. The UN human rights chief last Thursday said she would delay publication of the report to give the states concerned time to comment and the opportunity to have their comments published alongside the report. Other heads of state present included Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Francois Bozize of Central African Republic, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, and Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin. Delegations from Algeria, Uganda, Swaziland and the African Union were also at the stadium. Kagame swept the August 9 election with 93 percent of the vote, after a tense preamble over which his government was criticised for excluding any real opposition. Municipal workers have been cleaning and decorating the streets of the capital for several days, repainting kerbstones and planting extra palm trees. Some businesses in the city's main street have painted their railings and plant pots in the national colours of blue, yellow and green. AFP Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
